new front seats for Cagiva Mokes

[John R T]

My front seats aren't economically repairable so I'm on the look out for replacements. Does anyone on here have suggestions on which seats work best? We need to be able to adjust the angle of the seat as my wife and I intend to use the car. MX5 seats are tricky to source but look as though they fit well.

[Mickey C]

Not sure which angle you need to adjust but my Portuguese seats adjust and are comfy, would remade originals do? Mokoconcept have them and don't seam too expensive, not compared to the price of the hood I need to replace!

[John R T]

Hello Mickey

Thanks for the leads. Remade might do. I'll have a look at your suggestions. I've been looking at Mazda MX5 seats. I'm trying to work out if a 2.5 model would fit.

[Tim]

MX5 seats are a popular choice here in Australia. I believe the earlier models (NA and NB, maybe) are the ones to go for as they were narrower. Some have speakers in the headrest which sounds like a really useful thing if you wanted to listen to something other than wind noise.

I'd assume they'd need some kind of modifications to mount them.

Tim

[Dean]

NA only I believe. NB are too wide. You have to reverse (left to right) the seats to allow clearance for the recliner handles which will now both be in the middle of the seats. You will need to fabricate a basic frame to mount the seats. The installs I have seen use the existing cross member to mount the front bolts and for the rear fixings, a horizontal bar, fastened on each end to the inner hulls and also a vertical between the horizontal bar and floor to brace it. Very comfy though with sliding and reclining an added bonus.
Dean

[Tim]

I assume that the thickness of the seat base, plus any additional frame underneath will mean that the driver and passenger will end up sitting higher than with the original seats? This may or may not bother you.

I remember how different it felt in going from an early Aussie with sling seats to the later 'tombstone' seats. Even though both seats have the same internal frame, with the sling seats you sit much lower, the later seats make it feel like you could slide out the side. I would expect the Mazda seats to be even higher.

Tim

[Dean]

I can't speak for the sling seats but there is not really a noticeable height difference if you are changing from tombstones. The frame I mentioned serves as a secondary crossmember for the rear of the seat as it's a bit bigger than a tombstone so isn't supported adequately on the factory crossmember alone. The front of the runners mount to the factory crossmember so there is no height gained there.
Dean